Nick Deutsch (born December 8th, 1986) is a New York based piano playing indie pop Singer/Songwriter originally from Wilmette Illinois. His musician Mother prompted his early interest in music, helping to instill a deep love for Classical and Jazz Piano. Nick started singing at the age of ten where he honed his performance skills at the local Children’s Theatre and began songwriting during his early teens where he performed at local Borders Books Café and New Trier High School’s Coffee House Series. Jazz arranging and Harmony brought Nick to New York University where he met and became friends with Tina Shafer, CEO of the New York Songwriter’s Circle (has worked with Avril Lavigne, Taylor Swift, Vanessa Carlton, Gavin Degraw, Norah Jones). Her support and guidance led Nick to booking shows at CBGB’s, The Bitter End, Rockwood Music Hall, Café Vivaldi, Ella Lounge and working with producer Joey Auch. He has shared the stage with established singer-songwriters Ian Axle (Great Big World) and Jillette Johnson as well as recorded with American Idol’s finalist Marissa Pontecorvo. Songs off his debut “Crazy Ride” have let to nominations for Best Pop Male Vocal (2013 IMEA Awards), The Great American Song (2013 POP Category) and featured interviews with Pop Vulture Magazine, Apple Inc. the Huffington Post and Buzzfeed. Nick was also the recipient of a 2011 Philadelphia Songwriter's Project Award, a 2011 New York Songwriter's Circle Award, a 2014 American Songwriter’s Award Nomination, a 2014 International Songwriter’s Contest award, 5 UK songwriting semi-finalist nominations a 2014 ISC award, an International Vocalist Runner Up Nomination, and his lyrics (Crazy Ride) have won nominations and been printed in the nationally published American Songwriter magazine (May 2014)

Behind "Crazy Ride"

For Nick Deutsch, “Crazy Ride” was ultimately an exercise in letting go.

“There was a point where I wasn't sure I'd write again. It was 2011 and I was back in my hometown of Chicago, helping my family deal with the reality of my mom’s losing battle with cancer. I had a bunch of new material I’d been working on in New York, but when I got home it was like the ground gave way beneath me. She and I had the most magical, musical relationship imaginable. I had to completely let go of feeling like I understood anything about life; even looking at the piano was too painful. Strangely, I began waking up with entire melodies written in my sleep, as if the songs were writing themselves. I remember walking my dog across from the local park humming, “There’ll be times when life’s a gambling mess, where you’ll wake alone, the night a blacked out mess.”

Written as a sort of “how to” for his younger sister, the lyrics would ultimately become a part of “Crazy Ride”, the second track and title of Nick’s second EP.

“Having been through arguably the worst experience of my life, I’ve become more open and fearless about the way in which I live and express myself as an artist. The realization that we truly have “one life” has made me much more conscious of following my passion and being who I am. Life is too short to be dishonest, to lie in fear of what could’ve been. I’m okay with failure; I’m okay with rejection and not “making it” because I understand that life is about bigger things. I'm willing to take bigger chances and see what happens. That’s what Crazy Ride is about.”

Upon returning to New York, Nick contacted his former voice teacher of The New York Songwriters Circle, Tina Shafer, who recommended that he work with Joey Auch.

“The smartest decision I ever made was to work with Joey Auch. I really wanted to take my time with the record and work with someone who would coach me and let me try out different things, to not be under the pressure of studio time, or band schedules. You can hear the difference. Joey Auch is an absolute genius. He has an ear for contemporary production and a knack for building songs sonically in a way that is mind blowing. He literally had my jaw dropping every session.”

The first single "Green Light", melds genres together, mixing the upbeat sonic atmosphere of One Republic with lyrics that could’ve popped out of a Carrie Underwood tune. His voice confidently blaring, “no turning back tonight.”

“I credit all my vocals to Ande Alvarez of Singing Success. Ande gave me my voice in a way that I’ve never had. I could let go of trying to be a technical singer and just communicate the essence of the song. There is a lot of loss on this album, but a lot of love and growth too. You can see a relationship ending in “The Static”, the confusion of post graduation in “Twenty Something”, as well as finding love on the New York Subway in “A Good One”. I wanted to give everyone something. Through this process, I realized we’re not alone. While it’s heartbreaking watching my friends deal with similar themes of loss, I do feel like we are all in this together. I’ve never been prouder of my work, and I’m just really excited to finally share this music with people.

For pictures, Nick stumbled upon the work of Nir Arieli, whose dramatic images of dancers struck an immediate chord.

“I loved working with Nir and feel like he captured exactly how I felt these past few years. I wanted to be confident but also vulnerable. The pictures may have a hint of sadness, but there’s beauty there too. I didn’t want to pretend to be something I’m not. So many people have a “Crazy Ride” everyday, and I just hope I can bring three minutes of relief, three minutes to connect people together and let them know that I’ve been there, and together, we’ll keep spinning round.”